3 Ways To Get Out Of Your Own Damn Head

If you’ve been following my sporadic social media updates as of late, you know that there have been a LOT of recent changes in my life.

New relationship status New place to call home New living situation New job

Suffice to say, just getting through this past couple of months has been a bit of a challenge. Not to mention the amount of alone/thinking time I’ve had. I’ve had a lot of time to be inside my own head. I’ve had a lot of time to think, process, plan…ruminate, reflect, and mourn.

Truthfully, this extra time to think hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing for me. In the past, if something like this happened, I would have dived head first into something to keep me distracted. In this case, it would have likely been my job, and 6 months down the road, I’d be burnt out and exhausted.

I’ve made a point of making time for the quiet…for the moments where I had really nothing else to do but think. This was especially true for the first few weeks when we didn’t have internet installed at the new place.

For the most part, it’s been a great learning experience for me. It’s been mostly positive, and has pushed me very far outside my comfort zone. I’m the girl that’s typically cleaning her entire apartment from top to bottom in an effort to avoid thinking.

Have there been moments where I’d rather be doing anything else? Most definitely…this hasn’t been an easy few months. There has been a lot of uncertainty, a lot of self-doubt. Truthfully, there have been times where I feel like I am starting all over…again.

But it’s only by having time in my own head that I was able to come to the realization that this wasn’t me starting all over again. Could I see it that way? Sure. But why look at this as a negative? This is simply a new chapter, and ultimately it’s my choice to come at it from either a negative or positive standpoint.

So, having this extra time to think has been pretty damn good for me. Except for one thing. Getting the hell out of my head has not been so easy. Once I start the process, it’s been tough to get my head out of it and focus on something else, something that I may need to focus on…like work, or writing a blog post, or spending time with friends.

I’ve been doing a lot of work on this the past little while, and while my list of ways to get me out my head are quite long, I’ve got 3 favourites that have yet to fail at working when I needed them to.

1) Write it down

My journal is almost full at this point with all of the writing I have been doing. If ever I am struggling to pull myself out of a particular headspace, I reach for my journal and write it out. It may not even make sense when I go to read it again later, but it served its purpose. Sometimes thoughts can feel very big and overwhelming when they are in your head, and writing it down gives me the opportunity to just get those thoughts out.

2) Ask a friend to distract you

My friends have been pretty fantastic at this. Whenever I would send them a text or talk to them in person and mentioned that I was getting stuck in my own head, they’d do or say something to make me laugh, give me a giant hug, or offer an ear to let me vent.

3) Exercise

Obviously this is a favourite for me, and it’s taken on a more central role now that I’m back to working at the gym. Bad mood? Go lift some heavy weights. Feeling tense? Do some stretching/mobility work. I am such a firm believer that exercise is one of the best forms of self-therapy out there.